Guv's Gardens
Photo: cogdogblog, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
.jpg){kind=link}
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil
- Light, stone-free, well-drained sandy soil
- Soil pH
- About pH 6.0-7.0; tolerates slightly more acid soil
- Water
- Regular watering to avoid splitting
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Height and spread
- 20-30cm foliage
Guv's tipCarrot fly is the menace here. Put an insect-proof mesh barrier up from sowing and sow thinly so you needn't thin. Trust me on this one.
Through the year
Timings are for the UK as a whole. Northern and exposed gardens often run a couple of weeks later.
When to plant
Sow Feb-Mar under cloches or fleece. Main outdoor sowing Mar/Apr-early Jul
Harvest or flowering
Harvest roughly May/Jun-Nov depending on sowing
Pruning
None
Making more plants
Seed sown direct
Watch out for
Carrot fly
Look for: Rusty-brown tunnels in roots, reddish foliage
What to do: Insect-proof mesh barrier from sowing, sow thinly to avoid thinning, later sowing
Slugs and snails
Look for: Irregular holes in leaves, slime trails, seedlings eaten
What to do: Hand-pick at night, barriers, beer traps, encourage predators; ferric phosphate pellets sparingly
Wireworms
Look for: Narrow holes and tunnels in tubers
What to do: Lift crops promptly; problem worst on land recently grass
Always read and follow the label on any treatment, and check it is approved for use where you live.
Safety and spread
Pets and people: Not listed as toxic or non-toxic by the ASPCA, and no poison data is given by NC State University's plant toolbox
Weed risk: None known
Growing somewhere else? See this plant for the USA.
The Plant Doctor and the Guv's book
Printable pest and disease charts with real photographs, and all 50 UK plants in one book.
